Rumours: 1978 Album of the Year Grammy Award Clip

….a glimpse into a legendary land

In my ongoing research into the Rumours album, I ran across this gem from YouTube.

It’s a clip of Fleetwood Mac accepting the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Whether you’re a Mac fan or just a lover of rock history, this is must-see viewing, and here are some reasons why:

The competitors were a few records you may have heard of – Steely Dan’s masterpiece Aja (let’s take this moment to pay respect to Walter Becker, whom we lost just a few weeks ago), the Eagles’ masterpiece Hotel California, a record called J.T. by someone who is not Justin Timberlake, millennials, but the great James Taylor…and – whoa! – The soundtrack to Star Wars!

Notice the roar from the crowd when Rumours is mentioned – clearly it was an audience favorite among these historic pieces of work.

How about that cheesy orchestral arrangement of “Don’t Stop?”

The band members all look fabulous, in a 70s way that no amount of retro re-envisioning can replicate.

According to my research, the guy with the ginger hair and glasses that I thought at first was Warren Zevon is actually Peter Asher, a British music luminary who won the Producer of the Year award for J.T., and appears to be sitting next to actress Jacqueline Bissett. Fun fact; Asher’s daughter plays Keytar in the band Cobra Starship.

Any time a skinny David Crosby, with his friends Stills and Nash, invite you up onstage to accept a Grammy, you’ve got a pretty solid argument that life is good.

Depending on your age, this clip could be a trip down Memory Lane or a glimpse into a legendary land before your time. Either way, you’ve got to see it for yourself.